Hey Child
by LightHope1
Summary: Frank had convinced her that it was for the best to sell the boarding house to Charlotte Cooper before leaving for Denver.
1. Chapter 1

The rain pounded the stagecoach as it arrived into Colorado Springs and the one lone passenger looked out the small viewing window with a smirk on her face. It had been far too long since she had been home. For Felicity Piper, this was her homecoming and new chapter to her life.

The town seemed more prominent and brighter even on this wild, stormy day. The horses were restless as the driver opened up the coach door for her.

"Ms. Piper, we are in a hurry to unload. Do you need anything else?" The driver asked.

Felicity shook her head as she stepped out of the coach straight into the Colorado mud. She breathed in the clean air and looked up at the sign hanging from the old boarding house. The rain collected on her cowboy hat and began dripping into her view as she read the sign "Medical Clinic – Dr. Michaela Quinn. M.D".

"So, it is true. There is a female doctor in Colorado Springs." She said to herself quietly as she grabbed her small luggage and headed to the dimly lit General Store.

A few residents lingered outside in the nasty weather going about their daily rounds. Nobody seemed to notice her, as she opened the general store's main door.

"How may I help you?" asked a grumpier than usual, Loren Bray, as he finished a note for a customer.

"Depends, on if you have some time to talk Mr. Bray," Felicity replied while taking off her cowboy hat, repositioning her braid and grinning at the older man.

Loren slowly looked up while lowering his pencil. At that moment, he thought he was talking to Elizabeth Piper, Felicity's mother, but upon closer examination, he knew better.

"Felly Piper, is that you?" he asked using her nickname.

"Yes sir, it is." She said while walking to the counter and grabbing his hands. "How are you doing?"

"Well, now that's a funny question. I'm fine. Just fine." He said while squeezing her hands and letting go of them quickly.

"Is Maude about?" She asked while looking around for another person in the store.

"Maude is gone. She passed away from a heart condition a few months ago."

"Oh…I'm so sorry Loren. I did not know." she said while stepping back a bit from the counter.

"Of course, you did not know Felicity. You weren't here when Abagail passed either! In fact, you and your brother Frank left at the worst time" he said while starting to open his box of money to count. "I'm rather busy, and if you're not going to buy anything, then you know where the door is."

Felly bit her lip and nodded slightly at the comments thrown at her out of anger. "Good day, Mr. Bray. I will be back for some goods."

She slowly turned, picked up her luggage and stepped out of the store. It felt colder as she walked out of the general store. The rain had stopped, but the echoes of Loren's words bounced around her head.

Felicity put her hat back on and looked up at the old boarding house. Frank had convinced her that it was for the best to sell the boarding house to Charlotte Cooper before leaving for Denver. It had made the most sense at the time especially since they needed the money to get to San Francisco eventually. The boarding house had been her mother's pride and joy while her father preferred the outdoors and his cattle.

Felly dug into her pocket and pulled out a key. It was heavy in her hands.

Her mother had given here the deed t and key to the Piper homestead. It was the last physical thing she had of them. With a long sigh, Felly tucked the key back into the pocket of her skirt and headed for the livery.

The horses caked in mud, and Robert E was determined to get things cleaned up. Unfortunately for him, the town's blacksmith shop half exposed to the elements. So when there was mud, it took some time to get things back in order.

A horse neighed at the presence of a customer. Robert E bent over cleaning a hoof as his eyes stared at the female boots before him.

"I'll be with you in a moment ma'am," he said will getting up and dusting off his dirty hands.

"Hello Robert E." Felicity said, "I can wait. I need to buy a horse from you."

He stood dumbfounded and at a loss for words. The last time he had seen Felly was when Frank had sold Felicity's favorite horse to him. She had been in tears, and Robert E almost had said no to the sale for her sake. That had been years ago, and this girl looked older and very determined.

"Felicity, it's so good to see you. What are you doing here?"

"I've moved back to Colorado Springs to live on the Piper homestead."

"Who knows you're back in town?" Robert E asked.

"Just you and Loren Bray. I didn't have time to send word ahead. San Fransisco was not for me. Plus my brother got married, and it just didn't feel right anymore."

"Yes, I can understand moving on from something like that. Let's see what I can do for you, Ms. Piper." He paused and finished, "It's good to see you again, and I do have a horse to sell to you. Come with me."

She nodded and followed him to the small barn. Robert E knew the exact horse he'd give her. A horse that would be reliable and true; just like her spirit.

Felicity had left out to Robert E that it was the lack of letters from Charlotte Cooper that was the real reason she had come home. While paying Robert E, Felly asked if she could leave her stuff at his livery while she finished up some things before going to the homestead. He had agreed knowing where Felly would go next.

She could not get past her conversation with Loren. He had lost so much in such a long time. No wonder he was so grumpy but then again that was his usual way of being.

Felly took a deep breath as she reached her destination of the town's cemetery. She had said hello to some old acquaintances, but no one had stopped her from entering this place. It looked fuller than the last time she had been here which had been at her parent's funeral.

She walked up to her mother's grave that read "Elizabeth Piper" and kneeled to touch the edge of the tombstone.

"Momma, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to come home and visit you. I promise I'll come to visit you more. I really will." Felicity said softly to herself.

She stood, strolled past her father's grave that read Edward Piper and walked to Abagail Sully's grave. The tears came rushing out as she stood over her best friend's grave which next to it lay, Hanna Sully, her goddaughter. Fresh flowers were on their tombs, and it made Felly lose her composure. She had not been there when her best friend needed her.

The sobs came next but were quickly quieted down by noise. Felly sensed the presence of someone in the cemetery. She slowly turned to face a man. She stared at his feet and slowly eyed him all the way to his face. She knew this person, but it was not the same man that Abagail Bray had married.

"Hello, Felly." He said quietly.

"Sully."


	2. Chapter 2

Felly took a moment and glanced back at Abagail's grave one more time before looking back into Sully's eyes.

"There has been so much death in this town since I left." She said. Felly's sadness made her breathing became irregular, and the sobbing begins again.

"I should …" Felly tried to step around him, but Sully stopped her.

"No, you really shouldn't," he replied. Sully stepped closer and pulled Felly's shaking body into a hug. It had been a very long time since he'd hugged Felicity Piper or anyone from his past.

Her tear-filled face brutally reminded him of his dead wife and all their shared memories of their friendship. Felly's arms remained at her sides as she cautiously accepted Sully's hug. It took a few moments for her crying to subside.

Felly stepped back and looked up at him. "I didn't think it would be this hard to come home."

"What are you doing back here Felicity?"

"Well, I am answering the advisement for the teacher position that Reverend Johnson posted. I finished my teaching certification in Denver and worked the past few years as a teacher in San Francisco. Frank was threatening to sell our old homestead, and I had to come back. If I didn't come back now, I wouldn't have ever left California."

"Felly, you're planning to live on your parent's homestead? It's in bad shape."

"Never stopped me before Sully." She said as adjusted her cowboy hat and resting her hands on her hips. "I should be going to speak with the Rev. Johnson before I head out."

"Oh, come on Felly have you thought this all out?" he asked.

"Yes, I have Sully. I can camp if the homestead is in bad in shape and I know how to protect myself. You sound exactly like Frank as he scoffed at me for coming back here alone. I should go. Good day, Bryon." She said while walking past him and wolf.

Sully stiffened at the use of his first name; he rarely heard it used and the way Felly said it crawled under his skin. Of course, Felly has always been the hardest of Abagail's friends to understand. She indeed was a western spitfire.

Sully kneeled, placing his hand on his wife's grave cross and looked over at the church. "Abagail, you always knew the right thing to say and do."

Rev. Johnson was working on his Sunday sermon when he was interrupted by a knock on the wall closest to his desk in the church. He looked up to find a woman in his doorway with long braided hair, a cowboy hat and a long skirt caked in mud.

"Hello, Reverend. I am here for the teacher position you posted. I replied last week."

He nodded. "Yes, it was Felicity Piper, correct? If I recall you used to live here a few years ago?"

She smiled and walked closer to his desk. "I think you were still establishing yourself when I left for Denver with my brother, Frank. You helped with my mother and father's funerals. You were a godsend."

Timothy stood up from his chair and nodded in agreement. "Ah yes, I recall your mother now. She was Elizabeth Piper, the owner of the boarding house I stayed at when I first moved here."

Rev. Johnson offered his chair to talk further. Their conversation drifted into the complexities of the schoolhouse finishing and Felly's official start date. It turned out that she would have time to work on her family's homestead before starting full time with the children at the end of the month.

As time passed, Felly saw the lowering of the sun that promoted her to finish up with the Reverend. "Thank you for everything Reverend. I should be getting my horse and things in order."

"Of course, Felicity. I shall see you on Sunday?" he asked.

She nodded and headed for the main door. "Thank you again for this opportunity."

As Felly walked up the path to the Piper homestead, she walked into a dilapidated disaster. The property was in significant need of repair. The barn was in better shape than the actual home. Sully had been kind with his words. She took her time cleaning up what she could before complete darkness.

Felly untied the horse from a tree and walked towards the barn.

"Well, I suppose we are going to be roommates." She said to the horse as she rubbed her nose.

Felly opened the barn doors, bats screeched and fluttered out making the horse jumpy.

"Woah, Woah girl," Felly begged but her horse raised on her hindquarters and the reins escaped her grips. One of the ropes snagged on Felly's boot as the horse ran off resulting in her losing her footing and falling backward. She braced for the landing but landed wrong on her wrist.

Felly screamed out as the pain surged up her arm and caused her to pass out. She finally came to in the middle of the night with howling of wolves as the background noise. Slowly taking in the damage, Felly got up and stumbled into the open barn. She remembered to bar the door and out of pure exhaustion passed out again in the old rotting hay.

As early morning arrived, Felly opened her eyes to first light. She looked down at the damage to her swollen black and blue arm. If she moved it in the slightest, it caused her excruciating pain.

"I've got to get back to town and see Dr. Quinn." She said to herself while trying to stand and walk out of the barn. The distance on foot to town felt like ages compared to riding my horse. Felly couldn't fathom how as a child she'd loved walking this path to her mother's boarding house.

As she got to the fork in the road where the path took her to town Felly saw a cart and horse coming in the other direction from Sully and Abagail's old homestead.

The driver slowed as the cart got closer to Felly.

"Woah Woah!" the driver said to the horse. "Ma'am, can I help you?"

"Please I need help can you get me to a doctor!" she begged.

"Dr. Mike can help you!" replied the driver who Felly would learn later was Matthew Cooper. He stepped down from the cart and helped her in. "Just rest, we will be in town quickly."

Felly nodded and laid down on the cart. All she could think about was about Frank's words I told you so bouncing around her head. She let her mind quiet and her eyes closed as the horse began moving forward.

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To my readers: Thank you for all the reviews and encouragement. It means a lot!


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